Story Lissa Emblem: The Verge of History

[Tangerine]

Lissa Emblem: The Verge of History

"Chrom, we have to do something!" She tugged her pigtails a bit as she turned to her older brother. Her large hoop skirt did make it rather uncomfortable, as she bent over the unconcious stranger.

"What do you propose we do?" Her brother asked her. Lissa inspected the stranger more closely. It was a man with very jet black hair. He didn't look much older than her brother, Chrom. The stranger's face was very pale, almost waxen. Dresses a bit funny, she thought to herself. Those robes were odd, and she could have sworn she had seen such a thing before.

"I...I dunno," Lissa finally said. It was then, did the stranger finally stir. Thank the gods, I was starting to think he was dead.

"I see you are awake now." It was Chrom speaking, but Lissa couldn't stop staring at the stranger. His eyes kept darting around, not unlike a scared animal. Finally, his eyes met hers.

"Hey there..." she said with a small giggle. Now he's looking at me like I'm barking mad. Great.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know." Chrom said, while pulling the man up off the ground. Lissa noticed there was quite an indentation where he was laying. How long was he there for? No wonder he seemed dead.

The man shook his head dumbly, but his eyes focused hard on Chrom. "You all right?" Chrom asked.

"Y-yes...uhh thank you, Chrom," the man finally spoke. His voice was low and smooth. Lissa felt color rise to her cheeks when he said her brother's name.

"Ahh, then you know who I am," Chom answered, a smile playing on his lips. Oh, brother, he always did take too much pride in getting recognized in public. Lissa mused silently.

"Uhh not really," the man answered. "I just heard her saying your name....obviously." His hand motioned to Lissa casually. She couldn't resist a good snort this time.

"Lissa!" Chrom chided.

"What," she bristled. "Something went up my nose!" The man begin to laugh a tinkling sort of laugh. Lissa felt herself blushing again, and turned away to make like she was straightening her skirts.

"Anyway," Chrom began again. "Tell me, what is your name? What brings you here?"

The man straightened his strangely familiar robes. "Uhh, my name...its uhh..uhh?" He pulled a face. "I...oh dammit all!" Chrom cocked his head a bit.

"You don't know your own name?"

It was then, did Lissa noticed Frederick approach. Frederick was their knight and steward, and he always cut an imposing figure. Now was no different, for his expression was severe. Frederick was moving closer, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes to better peer at the stranger. Oh no, we are in for it. She thought. Thinking fast, Lissa decided to distract everyone from Frederick's arrival.

"Hey! I've heard of this! It's called amnesia!" She blurted out.

"It's called a load of pegasus dung." Frederick's booming voice finally alerted Chrom and the stranger to his presence. "We are to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?"

The stranger stared hard into Frederick's face, making Frederick nearly flinch away. The stranger's eyes narrowed, "You think me a liar, sir knight? Me?" he began laughing again. Something about that laugh made Lissa nervous. It wasn't the joyous tinkling laugh from earlier. Suddenly, his voice dropped. "I do not lie." Something in that tone made Frederick stop questioning immediately. Chrom decided to defuse the tension.

"What if it is true, Frederick? We can't just leave him here alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?" Chrom was pleading with Frederick then. Always with the pleading, brother. Lissa thought. Chrom would always get his way with Frederick with the innocent pleading. It had been that way since they were very young. Lissa had other ways of getting what she wanted from him. Other than a very sappy sad face, of course. Like pranks, she thought. At that, she couldn't help smiling. Frederick was looking serious again, but Lissa could see the hardness in his eyes leaving. He was giving in, as always.

"Just the same, milord, we must emphasize caution. 'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock." He answered. Lissa could see a mischievous smile playing on the stranger's lips.

"Right then, we'll take him back to town and sort this out there." Chrom said.

"Do I have any say in this at all?" The stranger asked.

"Peace, friend," Chrom replied. "We'll hear everything you have to say when we get back to town."

"So," the stranger started. "I am to be your prisoner? Are you to lock me in chains and question me?" His agitation was growing. Chrom laughed a little, making the stranger even more angry. "Please, you will be free to go once we establish you are no enemy of Ylisse."

"Ylisse....?" The stranger's face changed back to utter confusion. "Is that where we are?"

Frederick frowned and crossed his arms. "You never heard of the halidom? Ha!" he laughed mirthlessly. "Someone pay this actor, he plays quite the fool! The furrowed brow is especially convincing."

Lissa saw the stranger bristle at being called a fool. Chrom rescued the moment. "Frederick, please. This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt." Chrom began to beam upon this mention. "My name is Chrom--but then, you already knew that." The stranger smirked. "The delicate one here is my sister, Lissa." Chrom finished motioning to her. She felt her neck get hot.

"I am NOT delicate!" she wailed. "Hmph! Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes." Or all the time, she thought. "But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would have been a rude awakening." The stranger smiled at her, his eyes twinkling again. Lissa shrugged a little sheepishly. Ugh, why can't I ever be ladylike? I always embarrass myself. He wasn't laughing at her, so that was a plus.

The stranger did raise an eyebrow. "Shepherds? You tend sheep in..." he chortled. "Full armor?"

Chrom grinned. "A dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here." Frederick stood straighter.

"A title I shall wear with pride. Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution," he threw Lissa and Chrom a stern look. "I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."

The stranger smirked at Lissa, with eyes full of mirth. "I understand, sir." He answered, putting a lot of mocking emphasis on the last word. "I suppose I would do no less myself...My name is Loki. Oh!" His face full of shock. "Somehow, I just remembered that. Hahaha! Well, that's one mystery down."

Lissa was just finally relieved to know the stranger's name. She smiled a bit ruefully at him. Chrom looked relieved too. "Loki? Is that foreign?" It certainly did sound it, even to Lissa. "Ahh well," Chrom continued. We can discuss it later. We are almost to town. Once we---"

Lissa cut him off. "Chrom, look! The town!"

Indeed, it was within sight, but worse than that. There was smoke billowing off of some of the thatched roofs. Lissa could see actual flames spouting from what looked like a steeple. They began to move very quickly then. Chrom was grabbing Lissa and pulling her behind him. The old instinct.

"Damn it! The town is ablaze!" Chrom snarled. "Those blasted brigands, no doubt! Frederick, Lissa, quickly!"

Frederick mounted his horse immediately and rode ahead. He paused many feet away and called back. "What about him?" he was motioning toward Loki. Loki's eyes focused solely on the burning steeple. Chrom motioned with his hands for Frederick to make haste. "Unless he's fire as well, it can wait!"

"Aptly put, milord." Frederick laughed as he rode on ahead. Lissa was beginning to get very anxious. "Let's go already!" Not thinking, she grabbed Loki's arm and yanked.

The townspeople were scattering hither and thither, as Lissa and the others approached. It was one of the smaller towns in Ylisse. Lissa recalled how she and her siblings came for a charity visit a year ago. It was called Ogma, named after a hero of old. There was a rather large monument of the hero in the town's square. Just off of the square was the magistrate's house, and a tavern called The Rusty Axe. Many carts would pass by on those cobblestone streets, but now, it was full of terror and smoke.

A maid ran past, her skirts flying in every direction. A gruff voice was laughing and bellowing. "Get to it, lads! Grab anything shiny, and put the rest to the torch!" Lissa found where the voice was coming from. A huge, really apeish looking man wielding a large axe. Frederick was riding toward the town square to aid the folk. Chrom pushed Lissa behind him. I really wish he would stop doing that, sometimes. She couldn't see Loki. He must have run off. Lissa felt a little cold. We could use the help. The brigand was bellowing again, he had caught up with the maid. She was squirming in his hairy, ape arm. "We gots an example to set for these Ylissean types! Ain't that right, lassy?" His mouth formed in a way Lissa found incredibly lewd.

The maid managed to wriggle free. "S-stay away from me! Please! Someone help me!" Lissa stepped out from behind Chrom. "Chrom, we have to stop them!" Her brother had a very furious look in his eye as he answered. "Don't worry. After today, these bandits won't be bothering anyone ever again." The pair made for Frederick in the town square. His lance was drawn and his face severe. Lissa was shocked to find Loki there as well. He was staring up at the smoldering belfry of the church on the other end of the square. He began to move toward it. Something about his movements made Lissa pause and follow. He stopped short of the end of where the old hero named Ogma's statue stood. Loki was staring oddly at a shard of stained glass, no doubt from one of the church's windows. The glass depicted an image of Naga, in beautiful blues, greens, and yellows. Her holy mouth cradling the familiar figure of Falchion. Brother's sword. The piece that depicted her holy claws wrapped around the symbol of the Exalt, was broken off, lying a few inches away.

"Loki--?" Lissa turned toward him. His face shifted back to a more alert state.

"Ahh...huh? What's happening?" He seemed confused again. "This place is under attack, I should...do something." His voice trailed a bit. Chrom had appeared behind Lissa.

"Loki! You followed us," he said. "Why?"

"Uhh.." Loki looked to be gathering himself. "I'm not exactly sure myself." He finally turned away from the glass. "But I certainly can help in this situation." His voice had that slyness again.

"Of course, strength in numbers." Chrom answered with a grin. "Just stay close!"

~*PLAYER PHASE*~

[Tangerine]

The writer has said that they plan to continue this story at some point, so keep a lookout in the WW section!

[Balcerzak]

I found myself unintentionally breaking out into grins in several places here. There were a couple of moments where I briefly worried about how closely you seemed to be sticking to the original text, but then again it's been ages since I played, and I didn't boot up to confirm or deny. And even if you were, it was only for short segments with deliberate intent to evoke just that sort of connection for the reader (I assume), and considering the lengths you went through in embellishing and making it your own, I couldn't blame you even if it were the case.

I wonder just what the trickster has in store for this tale. Don't keep us waiting too long, alright?